The Island
by rach0486
Summary: A strange island appears off the mainland that raises curiosity… and trouble!
1. The Vanishing Isle

**STARGATE ATLANTIS: The Island**

Summary: A strange island appears off the mainland that raises curiosity… and trouble!

Spoilers: No Man's Land.

Season: early 3

Pairing: ShWeir

Disclaimer: I don't own it, etc.

Author's Note: Just so you know, this is gonna rip off just about every story ever set on an island. Hope y'all like it! Please R&R as always. Thanx. Enjoy!

The Island: Chapter 1: The Vanishing Isle

Even Teyla was sick of them at the moment. She sat silently next to Carson as the jumper glided over the mountains and valleys of the mainland. They had been taking antibiotics to the Athosians, who had contacted them about a sudden outbreak of what Carson could only describe as chicken pox with attitude.

But when they got there, all the people did was complain about how long they had waited for help and how nothing like this would have happened back on Athos. In the end, they had endeavoured to turn a deaf ear to the complaints, done their job as quickly as possible and promptly left again.

"You alright?" Carson ventured as the coastline came into view.

Teyla hadn't said a word since they took off a little over an hour ago. He knew some of the things her people had said had cut deep.

"I'm fine," she said simply, still staring out of the window. Carson didn't press further.

"They just don't know how lucky they are!" she said suddenly. "I mean, how can they think they'd be better off on Athos?"

"I don't think they meant it," Carson said in comfort. "Not really anyway."

Teyla seemed to be comforted a little by this and smiled thinly at Carson in thanks for his efforts.

"You know you shouldn't –" Carson began, but was cut off by an insistent beep from the jumper as the HUD (Heads Up Display) blinked into life to draw their attention to something in the water bellow.

"Where the hell did that come from!" Carson exclaimed, bringing the jumper to hover.

Teyla just shook her head, too stunned by what she was seeing to give a coherent response.

In the clear water ahead of them was an island. It was about the same size as Atlantis and was covered in forest. From the jumper, Carson and Teyla could make out rivers and waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain in the centre of the landmass. Apart from the breeze, there was no apparent movement no sounds of exotic creatures prowling in the shade of the trees. One thing was for sure; it was beautiful.

But a few moments earlier, it hadn't been there at all.

* * *

There really was no reasoning with some women when they were upset. To John's surprise, Elizabeth was one such woman. Everything he tried to say to her today had been turned against him in the most original and imaginative ways possible. But to make matters worse… it was his fault.

He had sided with Caldwell over her in the latest debate as to whether she was fit to run the expedition – or that's how she had taken it anyway. Caldwell had pointed out that she lacked the military experience to be head of the military contingent – which was true!

By agreeing with this point, John had somehow _implied_ that she was a lousy leader. He was still trying to get his head around just how this conclusion had been drawn, but it simply denied all possible logic.

Save for one. The only one John didn't understand at all. WOMEN!

"I don't think you should go in there at the moment," Cadman apprehended him as he neared her office door. Clearly, Elizabeth had filled her in on what had happened, as Cadman's eyes were a little harsher towards him than they usually were.

Come to think of it, a lot of the women (mostly scientists, but some marines too) had been staring daggers at him today.

_Damned female solidarity!_ he thought.

"Oh come on," he said quietly so his voice wouldn't penetrate the glass wall of the office. "It wasn't as bad as all that."

Cadman wasn't convinced. She turned to leave.

"It wasn't!" he shouted after her.

_Thud!_

John flinched as something impacted the glass behind him. It sounded very close to his head and probably would have hit him – hard – if the glass hadn't been there. He turned around slowly to see Elizabeth stood behind her desk scowling at him; her arms folded hostily across her chest.

He tried to avoid her eyes and so looked at the ground and caught sight of the modelling clay ball Heytmeyer had given Elizabeth to help relieve stress. It was now slightly flattened on one side from hitting the glass. Somehow, John didn't think this was quite what the doctor had had in mind for 'relieving stress'.

He looked back up. Elizabeth was still staring at him. She gestured for him to come in, her expression unwavering and hostile. John hesitated before he went in. This was not going to be easy.

"Look," he said, his military training kicking in, instructing him to gain the upper hand as soon as possible. "I didn't mean it how it sounded, OK?"

Elizabeth stared at him.

"Caldwell wasn't even saying you were a bad leader," he added.

Elizabeth sat down, still seething. She handed him a manila file and waited for him to read through the top page. It was a report Caldwell had brought back from earth from the IOA detailing the conclusions they had come to following the crisis that had narrowly been averted as the Wraith attempted to invade the Milky Way. In it, they expressed their concerns at having a civilian leader, when clearly the situation had changed.

"You're kidding me!" John exclaimed, looking up from the dossier. "They want to militarise Atlantis!"

Across the table from him, Elizabeth's mouth twitched into a half smile.

"It's not as simple as that. At face value, that's what they're saying. But the IOA would never hand this place over to the US military. This is just a scare tactic."

"Huh. Some scare," John commented. "So what the hell do they _actually_ want?"

"Oh, God only knows!" she replied sitting back in her chair.

"So…" John ventured carefully, seeing an opportunity to clear things up. "This is what you and Caldwell were talking about earlier. It had nothing to do with him questioning your leadership."

"That's right."

John suddenly felt a little sheepish, but at the same time reassured that his record for being wrong was still on track for the Guinness Book of Records.

Before Elizabeth could say anything else, there was a hiss from both their radios as they were hailed.

"Dr Weir, Colonel Sheppard," said a young sounding technician. "Teyla and Dr Beckett are on their way back from the mainland. They say you need to see something."

John and Elizabeth glanced at each other, at a loss for what could be so important.

"Colonel," Elizabeth said after a beat. She gestured towards the door. "I guess we'll have to finish this later"

John stood up. "Yes we will," he replied, though he felt relieved that they hadn't had time to rake his own comments through the coals.

He allowed her to lead the way.

"Oh, by the way," she added as she reached the door. "I'm still mad at you."

John sighed. Somehow, he knew she wasn't joking.

* * *

The island itself was uninteresting. The fact that it had seemingly appeared from nowhere was another matter. Now, as the Daedalus observed it from orbit, there was nothing more they could say about it.

"You getting anything, Doctor?" Caldwell asked over the radio, making Rodney jump in his seat.

"No," he said. "Not since the last time you asked, all of four minutes ago." He went back to looking at the screen in front of him as more information was downloaded from the Daedalus into the city's computer.

"I don't get it," John said from behind him. "How can an island just appear out of thin air?"

"It can't," Rodney replied, still looking at the screen.

"It just did," John pointed out.

Rodney turned around in his seat so John could see the unamused expression on his face. "What I mean is that it had to have either been there to start off with or it's come from somewhere else. Matter can't just appear from nothing."

"Well that's obvious," John said. "So where did it come from?"

Rodney was quiet for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted eventually. He turned back to the screen.

John rolled his eyes and smiled to Elizabeth. She didn't return the gesture, but stared ahead at the monitor showing an aerial view of the island. John sighed inwardly, realising it was going to take a little more time than he'd have liked for Elizabeth to forgive his previous misdemeanour.

For someone so well trained in diplomatic relations, she certainly knew how to hold a grudge.

"Is there anything going on at all down there?" she asked.

"Not that we can tell," Caldwell replied. "But –"

"Wait a minute," Rodney interrupted.

The whole room fell silent and focused on him waiting for elaboration. Rodney said nothing more, but stared harder at his screen, occasionally looking away to scribble down numbers.

"Ok," John said after a while. "That's a minute. Care to tell us what we're waiting for?"

"Hmm?" Rodney looked bemused for a second. "Err, I'm picking something up. Some sort of signal… I guess. From the mountain."

"You _guess_?" John queried.

"Well, its faint. I can't quite make out what exactly it is. Could be a distress code, I can't be sure. But its definitely Lantean."

John was sold. "Alright. I'll take a jumper. See if I can get a closer look."

He headed for the stairs. "Someone radio Ronon. Tell him to meet me in the jumper bay," he ordered, taking the stairs two at a time. He was at the bottomwhen –

"No need, Colonel," Elizabeth said. "I'll go with you"

John stopped dead in his tracks – as did most of the personnel around them.

"You will?" he questioned as she headed down the stairs.

She shot him a murderous look. "You have a problem with that?" Her face clearly read _just-try-and-stop-me_.

"Not at all I just –" he stuttered.

"Doctor, is this such a good idea?" Caldwell questioned over the radio, knowing exactly why she was volunteering.

Elizabeth ignored him as she marched past John and towards the door.

"Doesn't look like we're getting much say in this one, Colonel," John said quietly before he followed her – a little nervously **–** to the jumper bay.

* * *

John said nothing as he prepared the jumper for flight. Beside him, Elizabeth stared out of the front window, her expression set in absolute determination. She sensed John's gaze as he cast her a sideways glance.

"What?" she demanded.

"You don't have to prove anything, you know," he said carefully.

She didn't reply.

Soon, they were in the air and cruising away from the city. The island loomed ahead of them its forest inviting them like a tropical paradise. But the terrain was not what John had been hoping for. There were chasms and crevasses pocketing the entire island, especially around the summit of the mountain at its centre.

"Well, I guess we're not landing there," John commented.

Seconds later, the HUD blinked into life, signalling a suitable landing site on the other side of the island. It was the only piece of remotely flat land around overlooking an enormous cliff drop on the West shoreline.

"Looks like we're gonna be on foot," John radioed to Atlantis and the Daedalus as he set the jumper down.

"The signal is coming from directly on top of the mountain," Rodney instructed them. "I'm guessing there'll be some sort of visible device that –"

"Holy crap!" The exclamation came from the Daedalus.

Rodney turned back to his monitor as the latest data filtered through.

"Oh my god," he said on a breath.

The island was gone.

* * *

Author's Note: Obviously, I'm not just leaving it there. That would be cruel (even by my standards!). Don't forget to review all the same! 


	2. Lost

**STARGATE ATLANTIS: The Island**

Summary: A strange island appears off the mainland that raises curiosity… and trouble!

Spoilers: No Man's Land.

Season: early 3

Pairing: ShWeir

Disclaimer: I don't own it, etc.

Author's Note: OK, i got a little confused by a review I got that said something about the Island being and island of ice. I'm not quite sure where the idea came from, but just to clarify, it's actually a jungle-ish island (though it does get a little cold...). Anyway, on with the show! Please R&R as always. Thanx. Enjoy!

The Island: Chapter 2 – Lost

Panic rose in the control room like a tidal wave. The Daedalus immediately broke orbit and was back in the city within minutes of the data being recorded. Caldwell raced to the gate room – to the barely contained chaos – and located Rodney before anyone could get in his way.

"What happened doctor?" the Colonel barked as he took the stairs three at a time.

Rodney's attention was divided between three different screens. As Caldwell reached the top of the stairs, he shook his head and threw up his arms.

"I have no idea… it's just gone," he said in bewilderment.

"Sheppard and Dr Weir?" Caldwell said as a question.

Rodney looked him straight in the eye, his expression deadly serious.

"We've had no radio contact with them since the island disappeared." There was a hint of fear in his voice.

"Where did it go?" Caldwell demanded.

"I don't know."

"I don't need you to be accurate, doctor," Caldwell insisted. "Give me anything. Theories. Ideas. Hell! I'll take a wild stab in the dark!"

Rodney shook his head. "I'm sorry, Colonel. I really have _no_ idea."

Of all that had happened in the last few minutes, this statement from Rodney shook Caldwell the most. Rodney always had answers – often at the most ridiculous times. But this was completely alien to them all.

"Alright," he said calmly. "McKay you and Zelenka hit the database. Try and dig up anything you can on this. I don't care how tenuous a link you think it is. I want to know. Right now, any lead is better than nothing."

Rodney didn't hesitate in setting about the task. He knew, for once, that this was no time to argue over chain of command.

"Somebody get Ronon, Teyla and Dr Beckett into a jumper and over the site as soon as possible," Caldwell shouted to anyone who would listen to the order. Three people were instantly on their radios to alert the trio – a comfort to Caldwell.

He looked around the control room to the other personnel executing the tasks they felt would help.

"Recall all off-world teams," he said to the technician sitting closest to the DHD. "And then suspend all off-world travel. We're gonna need everyone on this."

The technician nodded and began dialling addresses. Caldwell looked at his watch. It was less than eighteen hours until their weekly status report to Earth.

"OK," he said to the few members of his crew who had followed him from the ship. "Get back up there. See what Hermiod can do to bolster our tracking systems. I want them found."

His crew scattered.

"And someone get me a print out of _everything_ that was going on before it disappeared!" He wasn't leaving anything to chance.

* * *

The air turned to ice. Everything around them was black, but somehow they could still see as if in daylight. It was as though the universe had contracted to that single island. An eerie stillness fell around them, so silent that both thought they had gone deaf. Not a breath of wind moved the trees and neither did they feel the air move past their bodies.

John breathed heavily and tried hard to suppress the panic rising in his throat. Elizabeth stood still, her eyes fixed on where the sky had been.

"Daedalus, report," he said again. "Colonel Caldwell do you read me?"

"Hello!" Elizabeth screamed from beside him. Her voice, shrill and riddled with fear, carried away from them and seemed to hover for a moment as if undecided as to whether it should continue to echo or simply cease to be heard. Soon, it faded to nothing.

John could see confusion terror and hysteria in her eyes. Never a good combination.

Suddenly, the sound of an enormous rip boomed about them, drawing their attention upwards. It was accompanied by a brilliant flash of green and blue that shot, shimmering and rippling, overhead. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"What was that?" Elizabeth breathed. John shook his head in response. But the apparition had made him think.

If the rest of the world around them had disappeared, why not them? He looked out across to the edge of the cliff they had landed on. With no warning, he fired his P90 at the blackness.

Elizabeth visibly jumped away from him in shock. Each and every one of the bullets hit a shield and lit up the violet energy encasing them in a bubble.

"We're trapped." Elizabeth stepped past John as the shield sank back to its invisible state. She stared at the void in front of her.

"That's probably a good thing," John replied as he headed back into the jumper.

"A good thing?!" Elizabeth repeated spinning to face him. "How exactly is _any_ of this a good thing?!"

John didn't reply. There was nothing he could say that would make the situation any better. He sat down in the pilot's chair and waited as the tiny ship blinked into life.

"What're you doing?" Elizabeth asked realising her pervious question would remain unanswered.

"Seeing if this thing can tell us anything."

"Like what?!"

"I don't know. Anything!" he snapped.

Elizabeth huffed out a breath in the hopes of calming herself down. Her brain was working too fast trying to process what had happened; she couldn't think straight. She closed her eyes and rubbed the sides of her nose with her index fingers.

"Didn't Rodney say something about the mountain?" she said eventually and with more composure.

"What do you mean?" John didn't look at her; he was pressing as many buttons as were available to him.

"That's where the signal was coming from."

John looked out of the front window and up the mountain's slope. There was nothing unusual looking about it. Nothing that suggested the answer was at its peak.

But then again, nothing that had just happened was exactly usual. And it was the only lead they had. And if Rodney's record was anything to go by, it was most likely their best option.

"Alright," he said resolutely. "Then that's where we'll start."

Elizabeth followed him into the rear compartment and watched as he took inventory of everything in their possession. He began handing things to her – a P90 and sidearm, ammo, first aid field kit, MREs, water… she soon lost track of what she was stuffing into the backpack. She just trusted that what he was handing her could possibly save her life at some point. She felt numb with fear.

"So," she said through the silence, her voice wavering. "This is what this feels like."

John stopped. He looked at her. He knew exactly what she meant. This was what it felt like to be completely cut off from home with no way of knowing how to get back, or even to know if someone was looking for you. All you had was yourself, your supplies and hope. And you hoped like hell that itwould be enough.

So…

"Yeah," he said quietly. "This is what it's like."

It was not a comforting thought.

* * *

It was difficult to come up with a theory to something that no-one could even begin to rationalise. Now, nearly a day after the island had disappeared, they were none the wiser as to exactly why it had vanished, where it had gone or even how it had appeared in the first place.

Rodney and Zelenka had all but locked themselves into the V.R. room and were wrestling with the holographic lady designed to help search through the archive. It seemed to be doing anything but helping as both men despaired at their lack of progress with it.

Caldwell had taken up temporary residence in Weir's office – surprisingly to no-one's objection and had refused to see anyone unless they had something important to contribute to the search. Needless to say, he had had few interruptions, save from the quarter hourly updates he had requested from the Daedalus. In the mean time, he poured over every scrap of data the personnel could hand him about the island.

He was particularly interested in the signal McKay had detected from the mountain. But, sure enough, like McKay, he couldn't make much of it. The energy pattern was similar to many distress signals the city had identified over the last year or so, but it was by no means a definitive match. Eventually, Caldwell had had to admit defeat and put it aside for the moment. There was more than enough other data to sift through.

"Sir," a technician interrupted his concentration. "We're three hours past the agreed contact time."

Caldwell glanced at his watch. Twenty-one hours had passed him by and they were no closer to finding their people. His stomach suddenly felt lead lined.

"Dial it up sergeant," he ordered, rising from Dr Weir's desk. He found it ironic that he felt so awkward occupying her chair. Afterall, it had nearly been his, but still it didn't feel right.

By the time he reached the control room, the connection to earth was established.

"Well, it's about time, Atlantis. I was beginning to –" Landry cut short when Caldwell filled his monitor instead of Dr Weir. "– worry," he finished with a hint of dread in his voice.

"I'm sorry sir," Caldwell said. "There's been an incident. Colonel Sheppard and Dr Weir are missing."

"What happened Colonel?" Landry insisted.

Caldwell explained with the whole affair; from the island's sudden appearance to its mysterious disappearance, and the chaos that had followed.

"Teyla, Ronon and Beckett returned from the site a few hours ago, sir. There's nothing there that would indicate the island's whereabouts and no sign of the Colonel or Dr Weir."

"What about their locators?"

Caldwell shook his head. "Nothing, sir. We can only assume they're out of range. Zelenka and McKay are working on the database to see if –"

"I get the idea, Colonel," Landry interrupted. "You're doing everything you can."

"Yes sir," Caldwell muttered in response. He was still sure he was missing something.

"Colonel," Landry said after a moment. "We'll find them."

"Yes sir," he said with a little more bravado. He hated this part. The waiting. But there was nothing else they could do until someone stumbled onto that one vital piece of intell that would start the search properly. In all his years of service, this was his least favourite responsibility of command. He would even have gone as far to say that he preferred to be the one stranded. At least then there was something to do. From the ground, you could at least think your own way out. But command naturally obscured what happened in the field. His hands were tied.

The wormhole dissolved before him, leaving Caldwell staring at the dormant gate. He hesitated a moment, trying not to think too much about what could be happening to Sheppard and Weir.

"Sir," once again he was distracted from his thoughts.

He looked blankly at the Sergeant.

"Your orders, sir?"

Caldwell let out a weary breath. "Keep looking"

* * *

Author's Note: Hopefully not so long between chapters this time! Sorry about that.


End file.
